Pieces of Paris…

Café Marlette and Gluten Free Cake

After my lovely little tea time with Quinn, I found myself walking up rue des Martyrs in the 9th wandering aimlessly on a sunny April afternoon. There’s a little place called Café Marlette. It has been blogged about by many, and as I was looking for a cozy spot to sit and chill by myself, it just appeared in front of me without me even trying o look for it. So of course I knew I had to plop myself down there.

I had well over an hour and a half before their closing time so I ordered myself a cool beverage and got cozy at one corner table and took out my notebook and a pen to do some letter writing. (it’s important to not let wonderful things like letter writing wither into antiquity). I couldn’t order a snack as all there was to order were muffins and other pastries that were lovingly made with dairy and hence forbidden to my alimentation. So I contented myself with a beer.

But forget the snacking, I was more intrigued and interested in the walls lined with mixes you could bring home and make yourself! There are even gluten free options! Perfect. Chéri will be thrilled. I purchased two.

The decor of Café Marlette is country chic and farmhouse charm. The pillows and cushions on the benches and seats seem hand made and the barely white washed boards that line the counter bring a wholesome goodness appeal to the central part of the interior. There is that at-home feel with the plates stacked on the counter top and the cake plates full of muffins and delicious things to eat. I will have to return for a lunch or even breakfast at this darling café.

I made the gluten free cake mix I had purchased just a short week after my visit to the café. And now I am looking for reasons to go back so I can get more cake mix. IT WAS SO GOOD. Chéri loved the cake ( he rarely gets cake since it’s hard to find gluten free when strolling the city, and we are so busy I seldom have time to make some), he had I think THREE slices! I think he fell in love with me even more that day, although I just followed the directions on the Café Marlette Cake Mix package! But I do have to day, I also had three slices!!! LOL! It really was delicious. And one of the easiest gluten free cakes I have EVER made. I won’t have to ever really make one of those complicated concoctions again with all sorts of flour mixtures and strange binding elements so the cake doesn’t crumble to bits. Marlette has taken all that headache out of the equation for me.

Café Marlette : head there for breakfast, brunch, lunch or tea-time, stay for the cozy charm, leave with some mixes in your shopping bag so you can take that wholesome goodness home with you!